TheHofmeister series orlyotropic series is a classification ofions in order of theirlyotrophic properties, which is the ability tosalt out orsalt in proteins.^[1][2] The effects of these changes were first worked out byFranz Hofmeister, who studied the effects of cations and anions on the solubility ofproteins.^[3]

Highly charged ions interact strongly with water, breaking hydrogen bonds and inducingelectrostatic structuring of nearby water,^[4] and are thus called "structure-makers" or "kosmotropes".^[5] Conversely, weak ions can disrupt the structure of water, and are thus called "structure-breakers" or "chaotropes".^[5] The order of the tendency of ions to make or break water structure is the basis of the Hofmeister series.

Hofmeister discovered a series of salts that have consistent effects on thesolubility of proteins and, as it was discovered later, on the stability of theirsecondary andtertiary structures.Anions appear to have a larger effect thancations,^[6] and are usually ordered as follows:^[5][7][8]

(kosmotropic) :${\displaystyle \mathrm{C}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{t}{\mathrm{e}}^{3-}>{\mathrm{F}}^{-}>\mathrm{P}{\mathrm{O}}_4^{3-}>\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{O}}_4^{2-}>\mathrm{O}\mathrm{A}{\mathrm{c}}^{-}>\mathrm{M}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{O}}_4^{-}>\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{l}}^{-}>\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{r}}^{-}>{\mathrm{I}}^{-}>\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{F}}_4^{-}>\mathrm{S}\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{N}}^{-}}$ (chaotropic)

This is a partial list as many more salts have been studied, which applies to cations as well. The order of cations is usually given as:^[5][7][9]

(kosmotropic) :${\displaystyle (\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{H}}_3{)}_4{\mathrm{N}}^{+}>\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{H}}_4^{+}>{\mathrm{K}}^{+}>\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{a}}^{+}>\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{s}}^{+}>\mathrm{L}{\mathrm{i}}^{+}>\mathrm{M}{\mathrm{g}}^{2+}>\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{a}}^{2+}>\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{a}}^{2+}>\mathrm{G}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{u}{\mathrm{m}}^{+}}$ (chaotropic)

When oppositely charged kosmotropic cations and anions are in solution together, they are attracted to each other, rather than to water, and the same can be said for chaotropic cations and anions.^[5] Thus, the preferential associations of oppositely charged ions can be ordered as:

kosmotrope-kosmotrope > kosmotrope-water > water-water > chaotrope-water > chaotrope-chaotrope^[5]

Combining kosmotropic anions with kosmotropic cations reduces the kosmotropic effect of these ions because they are pairing to each other too strongly to be structuring water.^[5] Kosmotropic anions do not readily pair with chaotropic cations. The combination of kosmotropic anions with chaotropic cations is the best ion combination to stabilize proteins.^[4]

The mechanism of the Hofmeister series is not entirely clear, but does not seem to result from changes in general water structure, instead more specific interactions between ions and proteins and ions and the water molecules directly contacting the proteins may be more important.^[10] Simulation studies have shown that the variation in solvation energy between the ions and the surrounding water molecules underlies the mechanism of the Hofmeister series.^[11][12] A quantum chemical investigation suggests an electrostatic origin to the Hofmeister series.^[13] This work provides site-centred radial charge densities of the ions' interacting atoms (to approximate the electrostatic potential energy of interaction), and these appear to quantitatively correlate with many reported Hofmeister series for electrolyte properties, reaction rates and macromolecular stability (such as polymer solubility, and virus and enzyme activities).

Early members of the series increase solventsurface tension and decrease the solubility of nonpolar molecules ("salting out"); in effect, theystrengthen thehydrophobic interaction. By contrast, later salts in the series increase the solubility of nonpolar molecules ("salting in") and decrease the order in water; in effect, theyweaken thehydrophobic effect.^[14][15]

The "salting out" effect is commonly exploited inprotein purification through the use ofammonium sulfate precipitation.^[16] However, these salts also interact directly with proteins (which are charged and have strong dipole moments) and may even bind specifically (e.g.,phosphate andsulfate binding toribonuclease A). As a result, these interactions can lead to proteindenaturation or the formation of artificialadducts.^[16]

Ions that have a strong "salting in" effect such as I⁻ and SCN⁻ are strong denaturants, because they salt in the peptide group, and thus, interact much more strongly with the unfolded form of a protein than with its native form. Consequently, they shift thechemical equilibrium of the unfolding reaction towards unfolded protein.^[17]

The denaturing of proteins by an aqueous solution containing many types of ions is more complicated as all the ions can act, according to their Hofmeister activity, i.e., a fractional number specifying the position of the ion in the series (given previously) in terms of its relative efficiency in denaturing a reference protein.

At high salt concentrations lysozyme protein aggregation obeys the Hofmeister series originally observed by Hofmeister in the 1870s, but at low salt concentrationselectrostatic interactions rather thanion dispersion forces affect protein stability resulting in the series being reversed.^[18][5] However, at high concentrations of salt, the solubility of the proteins drop sharply and proteins can precipitate out, referred to as "salting out".^[19]

Ion binding tocarboxylic surface groups of macromolecules can either follow the Hofmeister series or the reversed Hofmeister series depending on thepH.^[20]

The concept of Hofmeister ionicityI_h has been invoked by Dharma-wardanaet al.^[21] where it is proposed to defineI_h as a sum over all ionic species, of the product of the ionic concentration (mole fraction) and a fractional number specifying the "Hofmeister strength" of the ion in denaturing a given reference protein. The concept ofionicity (as a measure of the Hofmeister strength) used here has to be distinguished fromionic strength as used in electrochemistry, and also from its use in the theory of solid semiconductors.^[22]

The relativestability ofmetal ion-protein binding, which affects the conformational stability ofmetal cofactor-containing proteins in denaturingsolution, is reflected by theIrving–Williams series.^[23]

• Ball, Philip (1999).H₂O - A Biography of Water. London: Phoenix. p. 239.ISBN 0-7538-1092-1.
• Hofmeister Still Mystifies,Chemical & Engineering News, July 16, 2012.

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